Dahlia Rainecourt
|image = NPCRedRH.jpg |image-size = 295px |image-caption = |Created By= NPC |status= 'Deceased' |Gender=Female |Age= 19 |Species= Human |Position= Red Riding Hood |affiliation = Merkind, Pirates, Treasure Island}}Dahlia Rainecourt is the last official Red Riding Hood in the famous line of goddess-blessed lycan hunters which took that name. She was an adolscent when she inherited the title after her mother's murder, and spent much of her teen years learning what she would need to know to survive as the next Red Riding Hood. Dahlia did not enter the public eye until the Blight descended upon Ga'leah, only then taking up the Hood publicly despite her father's protests. She swore her fealty to the High Court and promised to help them not only to combat the Lycan problem but to fight the Blight as well. Unfortunately, she fell to the hypnotic sway of the Big Bad Wolf and turned her back on her legacy to take him into her bed, an act which would lead to much heart ache and see her removed from the present timeline by the Forebearer to stand guard over the imprisoned Big Bad Wolf in a prison that existed outside of time. Dahlia is now neither alive nor dead and the Huntress' blessing which gave her the supernatural abilities and title of the Red Riding Hood are lost. She and her legacy are lost for all time. Early Life Dahlia Rainecourt was born to a former knight of Calladahn and his wife, Diana, the Red Riding Hood of her generation. Diana was well known throughout the kingdoms for her beauty and her ferocity. Many believed that she enjoyed killing the Lycans even more than most imagined she should. Despite the fact that Diana had a younger sister and niece to carry on the bloodline and title of Red Riding Hood, she felt compelled to carry a daughter of her own so that the next generation would not be burdened by a weak and substandard Hood but would instead be gifted with a Red Riding Hood as well equipped for the slaying of Lycans as Diana herself. However, a pregnant Red Riding Hood was in great danger. Unable to protect herself from the Lycans in such a state, if she was found both she had her daughter could be lost to the world forever. To prevent his from happening, Diana set up a meeting with the Big Bad Wolf on neutral ground and offered him a truce in exchange for her safety and the safety of the daughter she so 'loved'. In exchange for calling off his subordinates and promising that both she and her babe would be safe, she would swear not to teach her daughter about her heritage as a Red Riding Hood. It was a promise that neither intended to keep for long. The treaty was held by both parties for several years, until Dahlia had grown into an adolescent girl. She was given a relatively normal childhood, running, climbing, and playing war with the other children of her village. But with puberty close at hand, the Big Bad Wolf knew that despite her promises, Diana would soon be passing on her knowledge to her daughter. So, in the dead of night on the eve of her daughter's twelfth name day, he ordered his wolves to end Diana's life before she was given the chance to break her promise. The next morning when Dahlia awoke, her gift for her name day was the power she inherited on her mother's death, power she as yet had no idea how to wield. Over the years that followed, her father the former Calladahnian knight took it upon himself to see to his daughter's education. He taught her everything he could, and when his knowledge was exhausted he packed up their lives and moved them all over the land of Ga'leah to learn all manner combative and hunting techniques in an effort to prepare his daughter to live the life of a Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood Dahlia was held back by her father who believed that she still had far too much to learn to begin hunting the Lycans yet. As a result, the Lycans were allowed to spread their curse, grow their numbers, increase their strength, and feed their bravado for years. It was only when the Blight began that Dahlia was finally inspired to take up the Hood and defy her father's wishes, running away from home to swear fealty to the High Court, not only to destroy Lycans but to fight the Blight as well. The young woman and the High Queen developed a close friendship over the weeks and months that followed, often escaping the city on small hunting trips of their own to find and destroy Blighted monsters like griffins and to get the Queen's mind off of the pain she felt over her absent husband. The two even succeeded in slaying two of the Big Bad Wolf's Alphas on an ill informed mission to save the High Queen's father from a kidnapping attat proved to be false information fed to them to ensare them in a Lycan laid trap. Amidst Dahlia's attempts to help the people of Ga'leah combat the Blight, her path finally crossed with the Big Bad Wolf. She was both revolted and fascinated by the creature she had been prepared to hunt and kill for so long, and due to her youth and inexperience with anything beyond fighting and hunting and training, she soon found herself seduced by his dark ways. Despite the betrayal it presented to all those who had come before her, Dahlia soon took the Big Bad Wolf as her lover. She was rewarded for her devotion by an attempted execution held in front of most of the Big Bad Wolf's subordinate Lycans. It was thwarted by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the High King and Queen who fought the Big Bad Wolf in an effort to free a shocked and confused Dahlia. Though the Big Bad Wolf later let the trio escape before his wolves could descend upon them, the High King and Queen did their best to convince Dahlia that he had done so only as a part of the game he so enjoyed playing with her emotions. Dahlia, however, insisted that he did so out of love. 'Death' After the Big Bad Wolf killed Ceren the Huntress, the Forebeaer was enraged and determined to make the monster pay for the numerous crimes of his existence once and for all. To do this, he seized the Big Bad Wolf and threw him into a prison in the fabric of Time itself from which he could never hope to escape. When Dahlia learned of her lover's fate, she was heartbroken and begged the Forebearer to give the Big Bad Wolf the chance to mend his ways and atone for his sins. The Forebearer was not so easily convinced that one so wicked could ever redeem himself and denied her request, an action that caused Dahlia to swear revenge on the Forebearer and the Pantheon in the Wolf's name. Unwilling to let her keep her freedom with such a threat looming between them, the Forebearer seized her as well and took her to the time prison in which he had locked away the Big Bad Wolf, leaving her to serve as his 'jailer' where she could be with her lover and cause no further harm to the Pantheon or Ga'leah. Though he could have removed the Huntress' blessing and bestowed it upon the next in her lineage, the Forebearer was convinced by Dahlia's actions that the women of her family could not be trusted with such an awesome responsibility any longer and he allowed the gifts of the Red Riding Hood to rot with her.